Patty forming machine



Jan. 8, 1935. w. F. SHELGREN 1,987,030

PATTY FORMING MACHINE Filed June 8, 1933 2 Sheets-Sheet l an nlll Jan.8, 1935. w. F. SHELGREN PATTY FORMING MACHINE Filed June 8, 1933 2Sheets-Sheet 2 W v w MW T i J1 6. 5 w

Patented Jan. 8, 1935 1,987,030

1 UNITED STATES PATE T OFFICE I g 1,987,030" g PATTY FORMING--MACHINE:

Walter F. Shelgren, Bradford, Pa. Application June 8, 1933, Serial No.674,952 7 Claims. (01. 107-8) This invention relates to an improvedpattyat its lower side with preferably circular sockets forming machineof the character shown in my 13 in which are fixed pads 14 of rubber orthe co-pending application for a similar invention like so that when thebase is placed on a table, filed January 21, 1933, SerialNumber 652,916.as conventionally illustrated at 15, the pads will Generally stated, theinvention seeks to refine prevent marring or scratching of the table. Ata 5 the machine so as not only to produce a more point midway ofthe'concave portion of-the front feasible commercial article'but also toprovide edge of the base, the flange 11 thereof is thicka more practicaland convenient device. ened. to provide a boss '16 and depending fromthe More especially, the invention seeks to profront lobes of the baseare L-shaped brackets 1'7 vide an improved follower in conjunction withadapted to abut the adjacent edge of the table 10 the meat hopper of thedevice and wherein the for positioning-the base with respect thereto sofollower may be easily and quickly removed bodily that the'midpointofth'e concave edge of the from the hopper so that the hopper may bebase lies flush with said edge of, the table. readily loaded. 3Screwed-through the brackets areclamp screws 15' And the inventionseeks,as a still further ob- 18 adjustable for securely binding the basetothe, l5 ject, to provide a follower wherein the follower table andpreferably, these screws are provided spring employed maybe readilytensioned for with caps 19 of rubber or the like to afford-a forcing themeat downwardly within the hopper secure frictional grip on the table.and wherein retrograde slippage of the tension- As particularly seen inFig.'2;the boss 1630f the 20 mg means for said spring will beeffectually base 10 recessed to'receive a fixed upstanding 2'0 obviatedso that the follower will effectually funcstud 20 and mounted tooscillate upon saidstud tion at all'times to exert a downward pressureis a substantially semi-circular *f'orming knife on the meat within thehopper. 21 lying flat upon the base. As best seenin Fig'.

With the foregoing and other objects in view, 3, this forming knife is"provided with spaced I 26- the invention consists in certain noveldetails patty-forming openings 22 and projecting from of constructionand combinations of parts herethe forward edge of the knife, midwaybetween inafter fully described and claimed, it being said openings, isan operating-lever 23"carryijngian understood that various'modificationsmay be upstanding handle 2'4. The openings 22 maybe resorted to withinthe scope of the appended of "any approved size. and these ope'ningsar'eclaims without departing from the spirit or sacripreferably taperedtoward their upper ends so 30 fici ng any of the advantages of theinvention. that meat patties formed in said-openings may In theaccompanying drawings forming part be readily discharged downwardly fromthe of this specification, Figure '1 is a front elevaopenings.

I tion of my improved machine; v Resting flat on the forming knife 21 isa top Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional-view onthe line plate 25 of thesame shape as the base and pro- 35 2-2 of Fig. 1, v 1 ff videdwith ears26'overlying the ears '12 ofthe Fig. 3 is a transverse section onftheline 3--3 base. Extending freely through theears 26 but of Fig. 1, jscrewed into the ears 1-2 are'clampin'g screws 27 Fig. 4 is an enlargeddetail elevation particuand interposed between the winged heads of saidlarly showing the anchoring head for the tenscrews and'the' earsof thetop plate are equaliz 40' sioning barrel of the follower spring; I ingsprings 28. Thus the screws '27 maybe ad- Fig. 5 is a detail sectionon'the line 5-5 of justed for clampingthe forming knife '21 between Fig.4, r the top plate and. the base while the spring sfZB Fig. 6 is adetail section on the line 6-6 of will function to equalize thetension'on the ears Fig. 5, v 26 and prevent'accidental fracture-of'thet'p 45 Fig. 7 is a detail perspective showing one of plate. thepawls of the anchoring head, and Centrally, the topplate 25 -is, asparticularly a Fig. 8'is a detail section showing a slightly seen inFig. 2, provided with adischarge opening modified form of anchoringhead.-' 29surrounding which is an upstandingcollari-l'd In carrying theinvention into 'effect,-I employ spacedradially from said opening toprovide a 50 a flat substantially semi-circular lobate base 10 ledge orstop shoulder, 31 at thelowerend of the having a dependingmarginalfiange 11 and procollar'and, as will be observed, the collar isunjecting from the base, flush with the upper face dercut at saidshoulder to provide an' annular thereof, are equi-distantly spacedlateral ears cavity 32. Fitting snugly in the collar'is'upj- 12.Adjacent these cars, the-base is provided standing cylindrical hopper 33which' may be formed of suitablesheet metal and, as will be observed,the lower margin of the hopper is spun outwardly to provide a flange 34engaging in the cavity 32 for rigidly and securely connecting the hopperwith the top plate. At its upper end, the hopper 33 is flared to providean overhanging annular flange 35, and formed insaid flange, asparticularly seen in Fig. 5, are circumferentially spaced notches 36.

Detachably mounted upon the upper end of the hopper is an'anchoring'head including a sectional sleeve 3'7 from the ends of the sections ofwhich project mating flanges 38. near the upper ends of the flanges '38are bolts 39 pivotally connecting the sections of the sleeve with eachother, these bolts being reversely pree sent'ed and each extendingfreely through one flange of each sleeve and being threaded into theconfrontingflange of the other sleeve so that" each of the sectionscarries one of the'boltsi' at the limit of their movement toward eachother.

In thus mounting the springs, the tension thereof is equally distributedbetween the sleeve sec-' tions. Projecting from each of the sections ofthe sleeve 37 is a pair of diverging legs 43 which are provided at theirlower ends with depending hooks 44 adapted to freely p s through thenotches 36 of the flange 35 of the hopper 33 so that after the head hasbeen lowered to dispose the hooks through said notches, the head mayberotated to the position shown in Fig. 5 for engaging the hooks beneaththe flange 35. As will beperceived, this construction also admits ofready detaching of the head. As shown in Fig. 6, each of the sections ofthe sleeve 3'7 is in-. ternally grooved near its lower end to removablyreceive asemicircular shoe 45 and formed on the shoes, as seen in Fig.'7, are pawls .46 having beveled upper faces. 1 e

. gSlidable through the sleeve 3'7of the anchoring head is a barrel 47provided at opposite sides thereof with longitudinally spaced pairs ofopenings 48 and fixedto the upper end of the barrel is a cap 49fromwhich extends alined lateral handles 50. As seen in Fig. 2, the cap;49.,is internally recessed and the upper end of .;the barrel 47 is spunoutwardlyinto said'recessyfor rigidly and securely connecting the cap tothe barrel. Slidable through the cap 49 isv a follower stem 51 providedat its upper end with .a knob 52for limiting the barrel 4'7 againstupward dis: placement from the stem and screwed upon the lower end of,the stemis aconcavo convex follower 53 snugly but slidablyfitting withinthe hopper 33. Surrounding the stem 51 to restat one end againstthefollower and at its opposite end against the; cap 49 of the barrel 47;isa spring 54. p Inuse, the anchoringv headis turned on the hopper 33until the hooks 440i the legs 43 register with thenotches 36 in theflange 35 of the hopper, when the: headis lifted upwardly for displacingthe. follower assembly as a unit from the hopper. vThe hopper is then,as suggested in Fig.2,filled with meat, when the follower assembly isreplaced; The handles 50 are then grasped and the barrel47p 1Sh QdQWIk,

Arranged wardly through the sleeve 37 of the anchoring head. As shown inFig.- 6, the pawls 46 are engageable in the pairs of openings '48 but asthe barrel is thus pushed downwardly, the wall of the barrel will coactwith the beveled faces of said pawls for rocking the lower ends of thesections of the sleeve 3'7 apart so that downward pawls will be causedby the springs 42 to snap into said pair of openings so that uponrelease of the handles 50, the pawls will securely lock:

the barrel against upward movement. Thus, the spring 54 will be heldunder tension for forcing .the follower =53downwardly and feeding themeat within the hopper33 downwardly against the forming knife 21. Y

In-this connection, attention is directed to the fact that when-thesupply of meat in the hopper 33 becomes exhausted or nearlyso, thefollower 53 will move in o engagement with-the shoulder 31 which willthen 'seirveto limit thefollower against further downward movement sothat the follower willbe held away from theforming knife 21 and bythengrasping the handles 50 and pushing downwardly on the barrel 47 tofree the pawls 46, the. barrel may then be rotateduntilthe openings 48are out of line with the pawls when; of course,: the barrel may beshifted upwardly and the follower assembly removed from the hopper forreloading rthe hopper.-

To operate the machine, the handle 24 is grasped and swung to the right,for instance, as seeninFig. 3, to dispose one of theope'nings 22 in saidknife beneath the discharge opening. 29 of the top plate when .the meatin the hopper 33 will be feddownwardly by the follower 53 into saidopening of the, knife. The ,knife is i then swung to the left when theother opening22 of.

the knife will be disposed beneaththe hopper to be filled with meatwhilethe previously; filled opening ofthe; knife be brought into an exposedposition atthefront ofthemachine so thatthe meat patty therein may, bereadily'dis- Thus, each time the forming V the screws 2'7 and displacingthe top plate. '25,

the-formingknife 2lmay beremoved and another formingknife ofeithergreater or less thickness substituted in lieu thereof orthe-substituted forming knife maybe of the samethick ness as the formingknife 21 but may have patty forming openings of either greater or lessdiam'e ter. The size and thickness of the meat patties deliveredbythemachinefmay thus bexreadily controlled by the choice of. the puttyforming slight modification wherein the, sections 55 of the sleeve ofthe anchoring head areprovided with, integral .paw1 s 56 like the pawls'46, the

shoes 45, as in the prior embodiment of the invention, being eliminated.In some instances, this modified construction may be found adaptable.Otherwise, however, this variation of the invention is identical withthe preferred embodiment thereof and further description is accordinglybelieved unnecessary.

Having thus described the invention, I claim:

1. In a device of the character described, a hopper, a follower movabletherein, a spring for advancing the follower, a barrel accommodatingsaid spring, the barrel being adjustably shiftable for tensioning thespring, and an articulated anchoring head carried by the hopper andmovable for locking the barrel in adjusted position.

2. In a device of the character described, a hopper, a follower slidabletherein and provided with a stem, a barrel accommodating said stem, aspring disposed within the barrel to act on the follower for advancingthe follower, the barrel being adjustably shiftable for tensioning saidspring, and an anchoring head carried by the hopper and formed ofpivotally connected springactuated sections having pawls engageable withthe barrel for locking the barrel in adjusted position.

3. In a device of the character described, a hopper, a follower slidabletherein, a spring for advancing the follower, a barrel accommodatingsaid spring and adjustably shiftable for tensioning said spring, asleeve formed of pivotally connected sections having legs engaging thehopper, the sleeve slidably receiving the barrel therethrough, and pawlscarried by said sleeve sections and engageable with the barrel forlocking the barrel in adjusted position.

4. In a device of the character described, a

hopper provided at its upper end with a flange having notches therein, afollower movable in the hopper, a spring for advancing the follower, asleeve accommodating said spring and adjustably shiftable for tensioningthe spring, and an anchoring head carried by the hopper and providedwith means engageable with said barrel for locking the barrel inadjusted position, the anchoring head having legs provided with hooksnormally engaged beneath said flange for connecting the head with thehopper and movable through said notches for freeing the head, thetension of said spring operating to normally hold said hooks in contactwith said flange.

5. In a device of the character described, a hopper, and a followerassembly carriedby the hopper and including a follower movable withinthe hopper, and a follower spring normally holding said assembly engagedwith the hopper.

6. In a device of the character described, a hopper, and a followerassembly carried by the hopper and freely detachable as a unittherefrom, said assembly including a follower movable within the hopper,a head to coact with the hopper for supporting the follower, and aspring for advancing the follower and normally holding the head engagedwith the hopper.

7. In a device of the character described, a hopper, a follower movabletherein, a spring for advancing the follower, means for adjustabletensioning said spring, and a head supporting said adjusting means uponthe hopper and ineluding pivotally mounted head-sections movable toengage and lock said adjusting means in adjusted position.

WALTER F. SHELGREN. [L. 5.]

